The present invention relates to printers equipped with an image recognition unit for preventing counterfeiting, for example, of bank notes and securities, computers providing the printer with print sources, and print systems including the printer and the computer. More specifically, the present invention relates to a printer, a computer, and a print system including the printer and the computer which are reliable in preventing false recognition by an image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention from hindering printing out even of ordinary images.
Bank notes and securities have been counterfeited generally by using only color copy machines. Recently, similar counterfeiting has come to be possible even by using a combination of xe2x80x9ccolor copy machine componentsxe2x80x9d such as a color scanner, a personal computer, and a color printer.
The inventor previously proposed a novel color printer with a high possibility of preventing crimes, equipped with an image recognition unit for preventing counterfeiting, for example, of bank notes and securities. The basic operation of the image recognition unit provided in the color printer is to receive image data immediately before being printed out, extract a feature pattern of the received image data, collate it with the feature pattern of an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention, determine, based on the collation result, whether the received image data corresponds to the image data, for example, of bank notes or securities which are objects of counterfeiting prevention, and prohibit normal printing out of the received image data when it is determined that the received image data corresponds to the image data as an object of counterfeiting prevention.
Normal printing out is prohibited in various manners. There may be cases where printing out is not performed at all, where a color or a size is changed although printing out is performed, where a graphic pattern is covered with a certain color although printing out is performed, where a certain symbol or graphic pattern is overlapped although printing out is performed, and so on.
According to such a color printer, normal printing out is prohibited by operation of the equipped image recognition unit even if the printer is used to counterfeit bank notes and securities, for example, in combination with a color scanner and a personal computer. Thus, counterfeiting is prevented beforehand.
In the color printer equipped with such a conventional image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention, however, all image data to be printed out have been determined as to whether they correspond to an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention by operating the image recognition unit regardless of how the image data to be printed out are formed. Therefore, even when an image produced by a personal computer using drawing software uncommonly includes a feature pattern to be recognized, it is falsely recognized as an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention, thus hindering normal printing out. Further, the image recognition unit is operated even for images, irrelevant to an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention when considering the image formation method, such as character fonts formed by word processing software and images formed only of geometric patterns made by CAD software. In those cases, the printing-out speed is unnecessarily lowered.
Here, the inventor obtained following information. That is, although the elements of images printed out by such type of color printers include character fonts, graphic elements such as straight lines and circles, and bit map images, only color bit map images among them are concerned with bank notes and securities. As long as bank notes and securities are regarded as images as an object of counterfeiting prevention, for example, operation of the image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention is not necessary unless image data to be printed out is a color bit map image.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating how external image data is received and printed out in a conventional color printer.
The above described color printer is not provided with a specified scanner. As shown in FIG. 9, external image information {circle around (1)} is therefore read through a general purpose I/F (interface) as a unique language (printer language) {circle around (2)} and then expanded in an internal frame memory. Even for image formation, image data is formed to an image by subtractive color mixture of inks, for example, and therefore it is converted to CMYK type color information. Since image formation is generally carried out for each color, there is often image data of only one color at a time.
Thus, the color printer does not have an area to which full RGB color components of an image are collectively transferred as in a color copy machine. This is a serious problem with image recognition.
Solutions to this problem have been proposed such as the method 1 of recognition for each color using a laser drive signal ({circle around (1)} in FIG. 9), the method 2 of recognition using data ({circle around (2)} in FIG. 9) input to a color conversion portion and a gradation processing portion, for example, and the method 3 of recognition using data ({circle around (3)} in FIG. 9) when external image information is expanded in a frame memory.
Recognizable color images can be obtained by these methods. However, the entire image to be formed is basically regarded as an object of recognition, which results not only in an increase in circuit size and cost and a reduction in the processing speed but in an increase in the possibility of false recognition due to recognition of an unnecessary region in the image. In the above described methods 1 and 2, there is not enough time from recognition to stopping output of a formed image. In the case of recognition for each color, it is difficult to define an image, which is prohibited from being output, in a necessary sufficient color range. In the above described method 3, a new problem emerges that the order of expansion is not uniform and collective recognition of the entire image is difficult.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a printer, a computer providing the printer with a print source, and a print system, which can reduce the probability of falsely recognizing an ordinary image irrelevant to counterfeiting to be an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention in an equipped image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention and which can improve the printing-out speed as a whole.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a printer which can reduce the probability of false recognition of images by recognizing only image data in a necessary region so as to monitor data being processed in image formation and which can improve the processing speed.
The invention according claim 1 of the present specification is a method of processing input data in a printer, having a first examination step of examining whether received input data includes data which can correspond to data as an object of a prescribed examination, a second examination step of examining in detail data which can correspond to the data as an object of a prescribed examination to determine whether it is the object data when the first examination step detects that the data which can correspond to the data as an object of a prescribed examination is included, and a step of permitting data processing of the, input data when the first examination step detects that the data which can correspond to the data as an object of a prescribed examination is not included or the second examination step detects that the data which can correspond to the data as an object of a prescribed examination is not the object data.
Since the input data is examined at two stages in the above described input data processing method, it is possible to quickly detect whether data in the input data is the object data.
A controller of the printer according to claim 2 of the present specification is formed of first examination means for examining whether received input data includes data which can correspond to data as an object of a prescribed examination, second examination means for examining in detail data which can correspond to the data as an object of examination to determine whether it is the object data when the first examination means detects that the input data includes the data which can correspond to the data as an object of a prescribed examination, and data processing means for permitting printing of the input data when the first examination means detects that the input data does not include the data which can correspond to the data as an object of a prescribed examination or the second examination means detects that the data which can correspond to the data as an object of examination is not the object data.
Since the controller may be separately provided from the printer or contained in the printer, whether or not the input data includes data which corresponds to data as an object of a prescribed examination can be effectively detected by the two-stage examination, and the examination operation can be carried out outside or inside the printer.
A printer according to claim 3 of the present specification is formed of first examination means for examining whether received input data includes data which can correspond to data as an object of a prescribed examination, second examination means for examining in detail data which can correspond to the data as an object of a prescribed examination to determine whether it is the object data when the first examination means detects that the input data includes the data which can correspond to the data as an object of a prescribed examination, data processing means for permitting printing of the input data when the first examination means detects that the input data does not include the data which can correspond to the data as an object of a prescribed examination or the second examination means detects that the data which can correspond to the data as an object of a prescribed examination is not the object data, and a print output portion for printing and outputting the input data in response to a printing permission by the data processing means.
Since the input data which is permitted for printing in the printer is specified after the two-stage examination, it is possible to efficiently specify data which can be permitted for printing.
A printer according to claim 4 of the present specification includes first examination means for examining whether received input data includes bit map data, second examination means for examining in detail bit map data to determine whether it includes specific graphic data when the first examination means detects that the input data includes the bit map data, data processing means for permitting printing of the input data when the first examination means detects that the input data does not include the bit map data or the second examination means detects that the bit map data does not include the specific graphic data, and a print output portion for printing and outputting the input data in response to a printing permission by the data processing means.
Since the input data which is permitted for printing and outputting by the print output portion is specified after the two-stage examination concerning the bit map data by the first and second examination means, the input data which should be permitted for printing can be detected efficiently.
The invention according to claim 5 of the present specification is a print system which includes a computer with an installed printer driver, and a printer containing an image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention and a printing out device controlled according to a recognition result of the input recognition processor. Specifically, in the print system, the printer driver of the computer has a function of expanding a command received from an application to image data and then sending it to the printer, and the printer controller has a function of operating the image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention for image data which arrives from the computer.
The computer has a function of sending to the printer a control signal for instructing operation of the image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention when the type of a command received from an application is a command type to which an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention belongs, and not sending the above described control signal to the printer when the type of a command received from an application is not the command type to which an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention belongs. Further, the printer has a function of operating the image recognition unit only when the control signal for instructing operation is received from the computer.
The above described image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention determines correspondence of image data to be printed out with an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention by using a technique such as pattern recognition, when the image data is determined to be an image as an object for counterfeiting prevention, generates an output informing that, and prohibits a normal print out result from being obtained from the printing out device. As described above, the normal print out result is prohibited in various manners. There may be cases where printing out is not performed at all, where a color or a size is changed although printing out is performed, where a graphic pattern is covered by a certain color although printing out is performed, where a certain symbol or graphic pattern is overlapped although printing out is performed. It is noted that the significance of the image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention is to be similarly interpreted in the following claims as well.
Further, the xe2x80x9cfunction of expanding a command received from an application to image data and then sending it to the printerxe2x80x9d means a function of, when commands received from application software, for example, for drawing, word processing and scanning correspond to character fonts, graphic elements such as straight lines and circles, and bit map images, expanding these commands to image data and then sending them to the printer. Representative printer drivers having such a function are printer drivers for ink jet printers and dot impact printers, for example. Besides, this method can be adopted in various types of printers. It is noted that the meaning of the xe2x80x9cfunction of expanding a command received from an application to image data and then sending it to the printerxe2x80x9d is to be similarly interpreted in the following claims as well.
Further, the xe2x80x9ccommand type to which an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention belongsxe2x80x9d is variously determined according to what image is assumed as the image as an object of counterfeiting prevention. When bank notes and securities, for example, are assumed to be images as an object of counterfeiting prevention, the command type would correspond to a color gray bit map image which is read by a color scanner, for example.
Further, xe2x80x9csending a control signal for instructing operationxe2x80x9d includes a case where the control signal is sent to a printer as addition information on image data, in addition to a case where the control signal is sent to a printer through a signal line for control signals between a personal computer and the printer. Although the formation of the control signal is basically sufficient as a 1-bit logic signal which represents whether or not operation is possible, it may also be a signal to control a multiple bit code representing one of a character font, drawing data such as straight lines and circles, or a bit map images as its command type. In this case, whether or no the image recognition unit can operate is determined by decoding the code on the printer side.
According to the invention of claim 5, an illicit act of counterfeiting bank notes and securities, for example, by a combination of a color scanner, a personal computer and a color printer, for example, can be effectively prevented by normal operation of the in-printer image recognition unit in response to an operation instruction control signal issued by the personal computer. When an image produced by a personal computer using word processing and drawing software is printed out by a printer, and the same or similar feature pattern compared with the feature pattern of an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention happens to exist in the image data to be printed out, the operation instruction control signal is not issued from the personal computer to the printer, and thus the in-printer image recognition unit is substantially invalidated. Thus, abnormal printing operation caused by false recognition of the image recognition unit is prevented.
In addition, unless the type of a command received from an application is the command type to which an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention belongs, the operation instruction control signal for the image recognition unit is not issued from the computer. Thus, the in-printer image recognition unit does not operate except for an image corresponding to a command to which an image as an object for counterfeiting prevention belongs. It eliminates useless image recognition processing time. Therefore, compared with a conventional system in which the in-printer image recognition unit is operated for images of all command types regardless of how the images are derived, the printing-out speed can be improved as a whole.
The invention according to claim 6 of the present specification is a computer which includes an installed printer driver having a function of expanding a command received from an application to image data and then sending it to a printer. The computer has a function of sending to the printer a control signal for instructing operation of the image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention when the type of a command received from an application is the command type to which an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention belongs, and not sending the control signal to the printer when it is not the command type to which an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention belongs.
According to the computer of the invention in claim 6, when a certain command for printing is received from an application, not only is it expanded to image data and sent to the printer but the printer is informed whether the in-printer image recognition unit is to be operated for the image data. It is therefore possible to independently making a decision on the printer side as to whether the image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention is to be operated. It prevents a reduction in the printing-out speed caused when printing out is hindered by false recognition of image data, apparently irrelevant to an object of counterfeiting prevention, to be an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention and when useless image recognition processing is carried out for such image. Thus, the printer performance can be improved.
The invention according to claim 7 is a printer which contains an image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention and a printing out device controlled according to a recognition result of the image recognition unit. Specifically, the printer controller has a function of operating the contained image recognition unit for image data to be printed out only when a control signal for instructing operation of the image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention is externally sent.
According to the printer of claim 7, whether or not the contained image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention can operate can be controlled by the externally applied operation instruction control signal. By applying the operation instruction control signal for each image data to be printed, therefore, image recognition processing operation can be appropriately controlled according to image data.
A print system according to claim 8 of the present specification includes a computer with an installed printer driver, and a printer which contains an image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention and a printing out device controlled according to a recognition result of the image recognition unit.
In this system, the printer driver of the computer has a function of sending a command received from an application as it is to a printer without expanding it to image data. Further, the print controller has a function of operating the image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention for image data which is obtained by expanding a command arriving from the computer to image data. Further, the printer controller has a function of not operating the image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention when the type of a command arriving from the computer is not the command type to which an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention belongs.
Here, the xe2x80x9cfunction of sending a command received from an application as it is to a printer without expanding it to image dataxe2x80x9d means a function of, when commands received from application software, for example, for drawing, word processing and scanning correspond to character fonts, graphic elements such as straight lines and circles, and bit map images, sending these commands as they are to a printer without expanding them to image data. A representative printer driver having such a function is a printer driver for laser printers, for example.
According to the invention of claim 8, an illicit act of counterfeiting bank notes and securities by a combination of a color scanner, a personal computer and a color printer, for example, can be effectively prevented by normal operation of the in-printer image recognition unit according to a result of command type determination on the printer side. When an image produced by a personal computer using word processing and drawing software is to be printed out by a printer, existence of the same or similar feature pattern compared with the feature pattern of an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention in the image data to be printed out substantially invalidates the in-printer image recognition unit as a result of command type determination on the printer side. Thus, abnormal printing caused by false recognition of the image recognition unit is prevented.
According to the invention of claim 8, the image recognition unit does not operate unless the type of a command received from a computer is the one to which an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention belongs. Since the in-printer image recognition unit does not operate except for an image corresponding to a command to which an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention belongs, useless image recognition time is eliminated, and the printing-out time can be improved as a whole compared with a conventional system in which the image recognition unit is operated for images of all command types regardless of how the images are derived.
The invention according to claim 9 of the present specification is a printer which has an image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention, a printing out device controlled according to a recognition result of the image recognition unit, and a controller, and includes a function of operating the image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention for image data obtained by expanding a command arriving from a computer to the image data. Specifically, the printer controller has a function of not operating the image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention when the type of a command arriving from the computer is not the one to which an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention belongs.
According to the printer of claim 9, whether or not the contained image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention can operate is automatically determined according to the type of a command prior to expansion to the image data. Even when a special control signal is not externally applied, whether or not the image recognition unit can operate is appropriately controlled according to the image data.
The invention according to claim 10 of the present specification is a recording medium on which a program for operating a computer is recorded. The problem causes the computer to function as means for expanding a command received from an application to image data and then sending it to a printer, and means for sending to the printer an instruction to operate the image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention when the type of a command received from an application is the command type to which an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention belongs, and not sending to the printer an instruction to operate the image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention when the type of a command received from an application is not the command type to which an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention belongs.
The above described xe2x80x9cprogramxe2x80x9d would generally correspond to printer driver software which is installed in a hard disk.
The invention according to claim 11 of the present specification is a recording medium on which a program is recorded. The program causes a computer to function as a printer which includes means for operating a printing out device according to externally applied image data, means for operating the image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention for the image data, and means for controlling operation of the image recognition unit according to an externally applied operation instruction.
The above described xe2x80x9cprogramxe2x80x9d would generally correspond to a system program which is stored in a semiconductor ROM of the printer.
The invention according to claim 12 of the present specification is a recording medium on which a program is recorded. The program causes a computer to function as a printer which includes means for operating a printing out device according to image data obtained by expanding an externally applied command to an image, means for operating the image recognition unit for counterfeiting prevention for the image data obtained by expanding the externally applied command to the image, and means for not operating the image recognition unit when the type of the externally applied command does not correspond to the command type to which an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention belongs.
The above described xe2x80x9cprogramxe2x80x9d would generally correspond to a system program which is stored in a semiconductor ROM of the printer.
In the print system according to each of claims 5 and 8, the command type to which an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention belongs may be a color image command.
The invention according to claim 13 of the present specification is characterized in that the command type to which an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention belongs is a color image command in the computer according to claim 6.
In the printer according to claim 9, the command type to which an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention belongs may be a color image command.
In the recording medium according to each of claims 10 and 12, the command type to which an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention belongs may be a color image command.
In the above described invention, if the command type to which an image as an object of counterfeiting prevention belongs is a color image command, further effects are attained that operating reliability is high in preventing counterfeiting of bank notes and securities and the printing-out speed is not lowered.
A printer according to claim 14 of the present specification has instruction examination means for examining whether received input data includes an exchange instruction to exchange bit map data to print data, and recognition means for recognizing whether the bit map data includes a specific graphic pattern when the instruction examination means detects the exchange instruction, the recognition means not operated when the instruction examination means detects the exchange instruction.
According to the printer of claim 14, only when the instruction to exchange bit map data to print data is detected in input data, whether or not the bit map data includes a specific graphic pattern is recognized. Thus, useless recognition processing is avoided, which enables efficient recognition.